Proposals to cap the House of Lords to 600 members should be written into law as progress on slashing numbers is being “undone” by the Prime Minister’s political appointments, a committee has recommended.
The fresh call for action follows concerns after nominations made in January by Boris Johnson took the total number of peers to more than 830 – compared with 650 MPs in the House of Commons.
The make-up of the appointments, including political donors and the Prime Minister’s own brother, fuelled accusations of “cronyism” as Mr Johnson opted to fill up the red benches, going against recommendations made to his predecessor.
Proposals to cap the House of Lords to 600 members should be written into law as progress on slashing numbers is being “undone” by the Prime Minister’s political appointments, a committee has recommended.
The fresh call for action follows concerns after nominations made in January by Boris Johnson took the total number of peers to more than 830 – compared with 650 MPs in the House of Commons.
The make-up of the appointments, including political donors and the Prime Minister’s own brother, fuelled accusations of “cronyism” as Mr Johnson opted to fill up the red benches, going against recommendations made to his predecessor.
A House of Lords committee has called for a legal limit on numbers of new peerages, after Boris Johnson was accused of stuffing the red benches of the Upper House with his cronies. And the cross-party panel said that plans to cut the size of the Lords should be accelerated, including by ending the system of by-elections to replace hereditary peers. Theresa May agreed in 2017 to a voluntary restraint on appointments to the House of Lords, as part.
Proposals to cap the House of Lords to 600 members should be written into law as progress on slashing numbers is being “undone” by the Prime Minister’s political appointments, a committee has recommended.
The fresh call for action follows concerns after nominations made in January by Boris Johnson took the total number of peers to more than 830 – compared with 650 MPs in the House of Commons.
The make-up of the appointments, including political donors and the Prime Minister’s own brother, fuelled accusations of “cronyism” as Mr Johnson opted to fill up the red benches, going against recommendations made to his predecessor.